he kept cutting off president obama. i think he didn't have any solid points. >> reporter: at times, the two men appeared to be battling over the facts or numbers which professor jackson says is confusing for the average voter. but she says the debate is also about how voters feel about the candidate. and that's where she says romney gained ground. counteracting the image of the out of touch rich guy which has plagued him throughout his campaign. >> coming across as caring and sympathetic and trustworthy was something that romney needed to do, and i think that he did do a good job. >> reporter: professor jackson predicts that romney will get a slight bump in the polls after this debate. and where that really matters is in those swing states where the two men are separated by only a couple of percentage points. live in san jose, monte francis, nbc bay area news. >>> perhaps the harshest performance criticism of the night is being aimed at debate moderator jim lehrer who at times struggled to wrangle the candidates. he eve